Wilson County, Texas( CNN) A mile down the road, a heavily armed killer had just crashed his auto after committing the worst mass shooting in the state’s history. Joel Robbins hopped in his automobile, where he keeps a loaded. 38 revolver, and rushed to the scene.

His wife, Lynn Robbins, 63, didn’t blink.

“I don’t get nervous, ” she said, taking a draw from her home-rolled cigarette, “because I know we could protect ourselves. Plus, I’ve got Joel, and he’s got the whole family’s back.”

Guns are life out here, some 30 miles east of San Antonio, and not just for personal protection. The First Baptist Church massacre in nearby Sutherland Springs strengthens the notion — commonly held in these proportions — that the best style to stop a bad man with a handgun is a good guy with a gun.